OHMYGOSSIP — Sir Bruce Forsyth had a “twinkle in his eye” weeks before his death.
The television icon – who had been unwell for some time and was hospitalised earlier this year with a severe chest infection – passed away on Friday (18.08.17), and his manager Ian Wilson has said the star was still cracking jokes even in his ill health.
In a statement, Ian said: “It is with great sadness that the Forsyth family announce that Sir Bruce passed away this afternoon, peacefully at his home surrounded by his wife Wilnelia and all his children.
“A couple of weeks ago, a friend visited him and asked him what he had been doing these last 18 months.
“With a twinkle in his eye, he responded ‘I’ve been very, very busy … being ill!'”
And, according to BBC News, the family of the former ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ presenter – including his 59-year-old widow Lady Wilnelia Forsyth and his six children – took a moment to express their thanks to “the many people who have sent cards and letters to Bruce wishing him well over his long illness and know that they will share in part, the great, great loss they feel”.
The publication stated the family would not be commenting further at the time of writing, and asked for their privacy to be respected “at this most difficult time”.
Meanwhile, BBC directory general Sir Tony Hall also paid tribute to the ‘Price Is Right’ host – whose exact cause of death is not yet known – in a statement which dubbed him as “legendary”.
He said: “He has delighted millions of people and defined Saturday night television for decades, with shows like the ‘Generation Game’ and, most recently, ‘Strictly…’
“His warmth and his wit were legendary. I’ve never seen anyone quite like him when it comes to performing in front of a crowd.
“He had a remarkable chemistry with his audience – that’s what made him such an amazing professional and why he was so loved. He has been part of all of our lives, and we’ll miss him dearly.”
Bruce’s passing comes after he underwent keyhole surgery in 2015 after suffering two aneurysms which were discovered after a fall in his Surrey home.

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OHMYGOSSIP — Tess Daly has dubbed the late Sir Bruce Forsyth as “a gentleman and a true legend”.
The television icon – who had been unwell for some time and was hospitalised earlier this year with a severe chest infection – sadly passed away on Friday (18.08.17) at the age of 89.
His ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ co-host Tess Daly – who presented the BBC Latin and ballroom dance competition alongside Bruce from 2004 until his departure from the show in 2014 – led tributes to the late star, as she said she was “heartbroken” by the news.
In a statement posted to Twitter, Tess wrote: “There are no words to describe how heartbroken I am to be told the saddest news that my dear friend Sir Bruce Forsyth has passed away.
“From the moment we met, Bruce and I did nothing but laugh our way through a decade of working together on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ and I will never forget his generosity, his brilliant sense of humour and his drive to entertain the audiences he so loved.
“He has been there for me as a co-host, a mentor but most importantly as a friend and I’m extremely fortunate to have worked alongside the man who defined Saturday Night Entertainment for so many decades. He was a gentleman and a true legend. I will miss him deeply. My heart goes out to Winnie his wife and his beautiful family at this sad time.”
Meanwhile, last year’s ‘Strictly…’ winner Ore Oduba posted a picture of Bruce on Instagram, and named him as his “hero”.
He wrote: “My hero, Sir Bruce Forsyth. Nobody did it better. RIP Brucie.”
And boxer Frank Bruno – who once appeared on 90s show ‘You Bet!’, which was hosted by Bruce – called the late legend a “wonderful man”.
He posted on Twitter: “Bruce Forsyth RIP wonderful man part of my growing up on TV’s Generation Game met him a few times a real professional old school entertainer (sic)”
Legendary DJ Tony Blackburn also paid tribute to the “great entertainer”.
He tweeted: “RIP Sir Bruce Forsyth a lovely man and a great entertainer who we will all miss.thanks for years of great entertainment. (sic)”
Bruce is survived by his wife Lady Wilnelia Forsyth and his six children – daughters Debbie, Julie and Laura from his first marriage with Penny Calvert, Charlotte and Louisa with his second spouse Anthea Redfern and a son with Wilnelia – as well as nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

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OHMYGOSSIP — Sir Bruce Forsyth has died at the age of 89.
The legendary presenter – who had been unwell for some time and was hospitalised earlier this year with a severe chest infection – passed away on Friday (18.08.17).
The former ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ host is survived by his wife Lady Wilnelia Forsyth and his six children – daughters Debbie, Julie and Laura from his first marriage with Penny Calvert, Charlotte and Louisa with his second spouse Anthea Redfern and a son with Wilnelia – as well as nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Bruce’s passing comes just two weeks after his close friend Jimmy Tarbuck admitted he is in a “very serious” state after two life-threatening aneurysms in 2015.
Jimmy, 77, said: “He’s okay but he’s a bit frail. He’s had an aneurysm. It’s very serious.”
Bruce – who was known for his catchphrase “nice to see you, to see you nice” – hadn’t been seen in out in public for 19 months prior to his death this afternoon.
His reoccurring health issues led to him quitting ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, which he presented for 10 years, in 2014 because he felt it was having an affect on him.
He said at the time: “Live television is very strenuous, especially when some shows are an hour and 40 minutes. I have to do all the announcements and introduce the judges. And I’m running up and down the stars 40 to 50 times per show.’
“And I was getting the flu. I always got the flu in studios.”
The television veteran started his career when he was just 14 years old when he launched his all-singing all-dancing act Boy Bruce, The Mighty Atom.
He then decided to learn to dance and later travelled around the UK with pantomimes, before a performance with the comedian Dickie Henderson in 1958 led to him being offered a job on ‘Sunday Night At The London Palladium’.
He continued to perform on stage throughout the 60s but it wasn’t until 1971 when he bagged ‘Bruce Forsyth And The Generation Game’ that he became a huge name.
However, his career suffered a hit in 1978 when he left the BBC in 1978 to present a show on ITV which later turned out to be a huge flop.
After being replaced on the ‘Generation Game’, things picked up again as he signed on to host ITV’s ‘Play Your Cards Right’ and ‘You Bet! and The Price Is Right’.

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OHMYGOSSIP — Brian Conley has been confirmed for this year’s ‘Strictly Come Dancing’.
The 56-year-old comedian, who has hosted daytime programme ‘The TV That Made Me’ since 2015, has confirmed he’s joined the line up for the forthcoming series of the ballroom and latin show and is looking forward to slipping on his dance shoes.
Speaking on Radio 2’s ‘Steve Wright in the Afternoon’ on Friday (18.08.17), he said: “I’m delighted and honoured to be asked to strut my stuff on this year’s ‘Strictly’. My family all love the show and can’t wait to see me do my dad dancing on national television. I know it’s going to be a lot of hard work but I’m up for the challenge, so bring on the spray tan and sequins.”
In 1992, Brian got his big break with the hugely successful ‘The Brian Conley Show’ which went on to become Britain’s most-watched entertainment show at the time.
Brian joins the so-far confirmed line up of; Aston Merrygold, Simon Rimmer, Joe McFadden, Reverend Richard Coles, Gemma Atkinson, Ruth Langsford, Davood Ghadami, Susan Calman and Mollie King, while many more celebrity contestants will be announced in due course.
Although some stars are yet to sign on the dotted line, one thing’s for certain, there will be plenty of fireworks when the show returns this autumn as the judging panel and troupe of professionals have been given a huge shake up recently.
The forthcoming series will see legendary choreographer Shirley Ballas claim Len Goodman’s Head Judge seat following his shock departure at the end of last year and, although the fellow panelists – Darcey Bussell, Craig Revel Horwood and Bruno Tonioli – are excited to have her on board, they’re convinced she’ll stand her ground.

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OHMYGOSSIP — Stacey Solomon had to drag her two sons out of an overturned car following an accident.
The former ‘X Factor’ star and now ‘Loose Women’ panellist explained on the show on Friday (18.08.17) how her natural instincts took over her when she had rescue her two sons – Zachary, nine, and Leighton, five – from danger.
Stacey said: “I had a car accident and the children were in it and the car was upside down and it was a horrific scene.
“Where I thought I would be completely anxious and panicking, my heart would be pounding, it’s almost like my body stopped.
“The kids were in the back and life stopped for a minute and I just thought, ‘I need to get us out of this situation’.
“I wasn’t in control. As much as I was in control I don’t believe I was in control at that point, something in my brain had taken over and said ‘this is what you need to do, this is where you need to go, being in a panic will do nothing’. And naturally my instinct took over.”
Despite the crash being quite serious, Stacey’s youngest son remained asleep until she pulled him from the car.
By contrast, her other son was left shaken by the dramatic incident.
The 27-year-old star said: “Funnily enough, my youngest was asleep and remained asleep until I dragged him out of the car, but my eldest was crying and saying ‘help me, mummy’.
“It was awful, it was horrendous. I don’t even like recounting it sometimes as it makes me feel so emotional. It was a freak accident, nothing that I could have changed.”
It was only after getting her two sons to safety that Stacey let her emotions kick in.
She said: “As soon as I got out the car my heart sank, I couldn’t feel my arms and my legs. I was crying.”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Mollie King is “panicking” about learning the routines on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ because she usually “takes a “little while” to pick up things up.
The Saturdays singer’s band mate Frankie Bridge – who took part in the competition herself in 2014 and came runner-up with her partner Kevin Clifton – can’t wait to see her blonde friend take to the dance floor for the ballroom and latin show in the autumn, but has admitted that she knows her pal will be riddled with nerves.
Speaking on ‘Lorraine’ on Friday (18.08.17), Frankie, 28, said: “I can’t wait. I’m not surprised at all. When I was doing it, Kevin sometimes came to work with me and she always wanted to have a go. She’ll look amazing in those costumes. She finds it a little bit harder to pick things up and that’s what she’s panicking about. I was like ‘please just enjoy it because it’ll be over so soon’. I wish I could do it every year.”
The two singers remained close friends after their band – which also included Vanessa White, Una Healy and Rochelle Humes – went on a hiatus back in 2015.
Now Frankie – who used to date McFly bassist Dougie Poynter – has two young sons, Parker and Carter, with her footballer husband Wayne Bridge and is currently promoting a new three-part series about internet trolling.
She said: “I was really surprised that people weren’t aware that this goes on. I find it a really important subject. Social media is massive, it can be an amazing platform but some people use it in a wrong way. ”
The new show called ‘Celeb Trolls: We’re Coming To Get You’ finds victims and the team try and track down the troll.
Frankie said: “We find a victim and we try and track down their troll, so much hard work goes into it. We send them a letter, give them an opportunity to speak. If they say no – we just turn up. A lot of them run away. It says a lot – it shows they’re cowards.”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Mark Wright has reportedly decided not to attend this year’s V Festival following his alleged scrap with Danny Dyer at the music festival in 2016.
The 30-year-old hunk has never been one to miss out on the extravaganza, which takes place in Chelmsford, Essex, but has agreed to give it a miss this year after he hit the headline when five of his friends allegedly attacked the ‘EastEnders’ star at the event after his daughter Danni called the former ‘The Only Way Is Essex’ star a “****”
A source told The Sun Online: “V Festival ended up being a nightmare for Mark last year. He loves going with his mates but it ended up being so much hassle he wants to distance himself from it. He checked his diary and made sure he was booked to play a gig. Mark just wants to forget about last year and move on from it.”
The feud, which took place backstage in the VIP area at the Hylands Park venue, saw Danny, 40, left with a black eye and bruised face.
The five men also reportedly “squared up” to the actor’s 20-year-old daughter, Danni.
After the initial bust up, the actor broke his silence and wrote on Twitter: “No daughter should have 2 see their old man being toe punted in the nut by 5 complete p****s. I’m sweet Bae (sic).
Mark subsequently also took to social media following Danny’s tweet and wrote: “Seen some stories online today about v festival. I would like to confirm that I personally wasn’t involved in any physical confrontation (sic).”
Danny then hit back at the reality TV star – who has recently secured a presenting role in the US – by asking for him to reveal which friends were the ones involved.
He said: “No. True. Where was ya?? Do you wanna declare who ya snakey 2 Bob mates are?? Especially the 1 squaring up to my Dani
“Friends eh. How to ruin ya pals career before it had even started. Legends. Other than that I had a proper night. X (sic).”

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OHMYGOSSIP — The BBC have been accused of poaching celebrity hosts in a bid to sabotage the other shows created by ‘Great British Bake Off’ producers, Love Productions.
The UK based firm, who are the masterminds behind the popular cooking show, believe the broadcaster deliberately stole Claudia Winkleman – who presented their other series ‘The Great British Sewing Bee’ – for the BBC’s new programme ‘Britain’s Best Cook’ after they decided to cut ties with the channel at the end of last year.
An insider told the Sun newspaper: “The sheer arrogance of it all is astonishing.
“Not only has the BBC effective ripped off Love formats and made their own, they are stonewalling existing shows that have been good for ratings for them.
“‘Sewing Bee’ and ‘Pottery Throwdown’ have done well but their hosts have been nicked for other BBC shows. There’s a view in the industry that the BBC is acting out of spite and not in the best interest of the licence fee payer.
“Love are just focused on making the new ‘…Bake Off’ as good as it can be.”
However, the BBC – who used to air the ‘Great British Bake Off’ until they lost the contract to Channel 4 – think the claims are absurd as Claudia, who presents on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ alongside Tess Daly, is already an “established BBC talent.”
A source explained: “This is odd, as Claudia is established BBC talent and you can’t poach talent and you can’t poach talent you already have.
“On top of that we’ve made a cracking offer for another series of ‘Sewing Bee’.
“Love have a lot riding on moving ‘Bake Off’ and are clearly feeling the heat.”
The relationship between the BBC and Love Productions turned sour last September when the latter decided to offer the rights of the baking show to Channel 4.

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OHMYGOSSIP — ‘Silent Witness’ actress Liz Carr is poised to return to filming next week.
The 45-year-old star – who plays the role of forensic examiner Clarissa Mullery on the BBC crime drama – suffered a stab wound last week after she was attacked by a man with a pair of scissors on the streets of London, but Liz has revealed she’s set to return to the show in the coming days.
She shared: “Thanks to everyone who has sent their love and good wishes following last week’s stabbing.
“Just to reassure you that whilst it was very frightening at the time, I came out of it relatively unscathed and was even back home later that night.”
And despite the “frightening” experience, Liz is already excited about returning to work.
She wrote on Twitter: “Looking forward to returning to filming on Silent Witness next week where thankfully all the violence is fake!”
Liz, who uses a wheelchair, suffered minor cuts in the incident and was later treated in hospital.
Following her release, Liz thanked the hospital’s staff on social media.
She tweeted: “I want to say an extra thank you to the amazing paramedics, ambulance crew & A&E staff #SaveTheNHS. (sic)”
Meanwhile, Scotland Yard has confirmed Liz’s attacker was arrested following the incident and he has subsequently been detained under the Mental Health Act.
A spokesperson said: “A man – aged in his 20s – was arrested at the scene on suspicion of GBH.
“He was taken into custody at a north London police station. He was subsequently detained under the Mental Health Act.”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Love Island’s Chris Hughes and Olivia Attwood have been approached for their own show.
The pair’s tumultuous romance has been the hot topic of conversation since they met and fell in love in the villa at the beginning of June and, despite many make ups and breaks ups over the past two months, bosses are hoping that they’ll agree to their own spin off.
A source told The Sun Online: “The nation was completely addicted to following Chris and Liv’s on-off relationship in the villa and they were by far one of the most talked-about couples.
“Their rows were gripping and they were also completely hilarious – especially with Cash Hughes [the baby doll they were told to look after for 24 hours] thrown in the mix.
“It’s no surprise then that they’ve been quickly tapped up to do a follow-up show chronicling how they’re doing on the outside and as well as all the other things they’ve signed up for.”
And Olivia has sparked rumours that she and her beau may be back on screens sooner rather than later, but she remained coy when she was pressed on what she’s got coming up.
She said: “There is something happening with Chris but I can’t talk about it at the moment.”
Meanwhile, the pair hit the headlines earlier this month when rumours swirled that they’d split after the blonde beauty was spotted getting close to her ex-boyfriend Bradley Dack.
But she’s adamant she and Chris are stronger than ever and are “obsessed” with each other.
She said recently: “Chris chucked his suitcase at mine the day we got back from the island, and hasn’t left since. We haven’t had an official ‘moving in’ thing, but he’s pretty much at mine full time now. We’re obsessed with each other to the point where we’re killing ourselves trying to keep to the routine of staying together every night.”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Trisha Paytas has accused her former ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ housemates of sharing drugs.
The YouTube sensation – who dramatically quit the reality TV show last week – has claimed producers failed to show the public what “vile” behaviour was actually going on behind closed doors and has even suggested that the contestants had been taking substances.
According to The Sun Online, the blonde star took to her Twitter account and wrote in a since-deleted post: “The vileness that came from these housemates’ mouths that they didn’t air would shock you. The drug sharing in the house would shock you.”
Drugs are banned in the infamous house and a spokesperson for Channel 4 has said bosses are constantly watching the housemates and “monitoring” their behaviour.
The representative said: “Big Brother constantly monitors housemates and their behaviour.”
But this isn’t the first time drugs have been brought up this series as Paul Danan flipped earlier this month when his co-star Sarah Harding accused him of popping pills.
The argument erupted when ‘Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ star Brandi Glanville asked him how he was feeling as he frantically paced around the living room.
He replied: “I’m just trying to get through the non-alcohol thing. I’m just struggling.”
Brandi replied: “Well Sarah said you were taking a pill.”
Paul, 39, then stormed out into the garden towards Sarah and
screeched: “Sarah don’t ever insinuate that I’m taking a pill! I’m taking Paracetamol and Ibuprofen.”
The blonde star panicked and told the actor to calm down.
But Paul hit back: “No, I’m not going to f*****g calm down. I’m the one that’s clean and sober what the f**k are you doing?”
After the pair started to raise their voices, ‘Gogglebox’ star Sandi pulled Paul away and he raced up to the diary room to talk through his issues.

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OHMYGOSSIP — Kirsty Gallacher was secretly dating Laurence Fox.
The ‘Sky Sports News’ presenter – who was charged with drink driving last weekend – and the ‘Lewis’ star have been an item for six months, but have called time on their romance after finding it “tiresome” sneaking around.
An insider said: “The pair met through pals and hit it off. They had fun while it lasted.
“But having to sneak around was a bit tiresome in the end.”
The 41-year-old beauty previously dated professional rugby player Danny Cipriani, and while they split in April 2016, she is thought to still be keen on the 29-year-old star.
The source added to The Sun newspaper: “She was mad for him.”
Kirsty revealed earlier this year she was dating, but didn’t name the mystery man.
She said at the time: “It’s early days. I’m enjoying seeing somebody, going on dates and having a great time.”
Laurence, 39, is the ex-husband of former ‘Doctor Who’ star Billie Piper. The pair split in 2016 after eight years together.
This comes after TV presenter Kirsty was charged with one count of “driving a motor vehicle when alcohol level was above the legal limit” after she was pulled over by police in Eton, Berkshire, over the weekend.
She was spotted driving erratically on her way to pick up her children Oscar, 11, and Jude, seven, from her ex-husband Paul Sampson’s house.
Kirsty was bailed to appear at Slough Magistrates’ Court on September 4.
The evening before her arrest, the star posted a photo of herself enjoying a night out with a group of friends at the Winning Post pub in nearby Winkfield.
She co-hosted a 6pm ‘Sky Sports News’ show last Friday (11.08.17) alongside Jim White.

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